Lk 12:32-48 or 12:35-40Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way,blessed are those servants. Be sure of this:if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming,he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,the Son of Man will come.”
Then Peter said,“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied,“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself,‘My master is delayed in coming,’and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,to eat and drink and get drunk,then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely;and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Jesus said to his disciples:“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way,blessed are those servants. Be sure of this:if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming,he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,the Son of Man will come.”


SO what does the bit about beatings mean to you? When Fr. Bob read it, I saw sooooo many people looking around and furrowing their brows. I mean really, who's getting beaten severely and those who deserve to be beaten severely but are only beaten lightly? What does that mean? I was sad he didn't talk about it. Maybe it didn't stand out to him. I know I heard this very same reading on this very same Sunday three years ago, but I don't ever remember the bit about beatings....very strange.

And then it hit me.

Purgatory!

We are judged according to the degree of Truth revealed to us. Soooo, if you don't know any better (ie ignorant to what your master wants), you won't be judged as harshly on those things. You still will need to be purified because God can't have anything that's not perfect near Him.

And then there are those who know better....They will be beaten severely....either a loooootttta purification in purgatory....or heading a bit farther south for all of eternity.

But what does it mean to you?